On April 12th,
Tabb High School hosted
a "Meet the Candidates”
event. Lt. Governor Ralph
Northam, candidate for
Governor of Virginia, and
Justin Fairfax, candidate
for Lt. Governor were the
main speakers for the
night. Before the main
event took place at 6:30,
there was a meet and
greet from 5:30-6:30. This
gave anyone in attendance
the opportunity to
talk to both Northam and
Fairfax in a more informal
manner.

Christopher Newport University professor,
Rachel Bitecofer,
acted as moderator for the
"interview” style event
with Lt. Governor Ralph
Northam. The event had
nine questions from the
moderator, with one follow-
up question from the
audience relating to the
original question. The
questions spanned across
the following topics: the
Chesapeake Bay, education,
civil rights, racial
profiling/law enforcement,
discrimination
among the LGTBQ community,
gun control, redistricting,
women’s
rights, and Medicaid.

Lt. Governor
spoke intensely about
each topic from a
Democratic point of view,
confirming his position on
them and expressing how
he would help with several
concerns. He made his
position on topics such as
education, very clear: "I
am against anything that
takes money away from
K-12 education.” The
same passion followed
into the question about
gun control, stating that
he was for bringing back 1
Gun a Month. "Assault
weapons won’t be on our
streets,” Lt. Governor
Northam expressed.
Northam repeated one
quote throughout his
speech: "When we can’t
change people’s minds,
we need to change their
seats.”

Towards the end
of the interview with Lt.
Governor Northam, he
stated, "We can’t go back,
we need to move forward
in Virginia.” Wrapping
up the questions,
Northam declared, "Let’s
get it done in 2017,” referencing
the upcoming election.

Justin Fairfax, a
candidate for Lt.
Government, spoke for
the last thirty minutes. He
reviewed his experience
with the audience and
told everyone his upbringing.
The main theme
of his platform was spiritual
wealth. Audience
members were then
allowed to ask him questions
as well, with topics
around the travel ban to
millennials to leadership
in this country. When the
travel ban was enacted,
Fairfax was one of the
lawyers who went to
Dulles airport and helped
ensure everyone was able
to go home that night.
Fairfax also talked about
raising minimum wage
and having more people
become small business
owners. "I want to make
sure the American Dream
is possible for absolutely
every single one of us”
Justin declared.

After the event,
there was another chance
to meet the candidates in
the Tabb High School
Commons Area.